The Hyundai Exter has been one of biggest surprises of the month of sales in its first month of 453 units. Image: Hyundai
The downward trajectory in the country’s new vehicle sales continued for a second consecutive month in September, albeit slightly better than the almost five percent drop in August.
Having seen its sales decrease to just over 2 500 units in August, the Toyota Hilux saw its figures for September increase to 2 942, but this time ahead of the 2 407 recorded by the Volkswagen Polo Vivo.
Dropping a notch to third, the Ford Ranger posted sales of 2 382, while the Toyota Corolla Cross jumped a position to fourth with 2 045 – the only other vehicle to breach the 2 000 mark.
Completing the top five, the Isuzu D-Max raked in 1 592 signatures to finish ahead of the Hyundai Grand i10 that kept station in sixth place on 1 126 as the country’s best-selling non-locally produced vehicle.
In completing a still locally-made dominating top 10, the Toyota Fortuner amassed sales of 1 086 as the only other vehicle to post four figure digits.
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Improving two positions to eighth place despite dipping below 1 000 units, the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro pipped the Volkswagen Polo with sales of 990 versus 948, with the Nissan Magnite completing the top 10 on 869.
Below, the Suzuki Fronx made for the biggest surprise by outscoring its Toyota Starlet Cross sibling on 850 versus 713 in a reversal of August.
The same also applied to the Baleno, which recorded its biggest offset in recent months at 752, while the conventional Starlet managed 626.
Although launched late last month, the Hyundai Exter made for the biggest surprise by placing 22nd on 453, with other noteworthy performances being the facelift Volkswagen T-Cross’ 409 and the Omoda C5’s 325.
Despite the ongoing reductions in the fuel price and a first interest rate cut since the pandemic, the figures by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers (Naamsa) showed a decrease of 4.1% from 2023’s 45 970 to 44 081.
The various segments were, however, mixed, with new passenger vehicle sales improving by two percent from 29 626 to 30 218, while light commercial vehicles went the other way by shedding a substantial 17.1% from 13 171 to 10 914.
Following the same pattern, medium-duty commercial vehicles improved by a scant 0.5% from 817 to 821 units, while heavy-duty commercials lost 18% to settle at 1 849 compared to 2023’s 2 163.
Taking the brunt of the month though was exports, which nosedived by 38.1% from 35 499 to 21 964.
“Although the July 2024 market rally did not continue in August, the passenger car segment has shown a positive trend in recent months, boosted by rental sales, currency strength, and decreasing inflation,” Naamsa said in a statement.
“As the country anticipates further interest rate reductions, the costs of borrowing are expected to decline, which may stimulate economic activity, even though immediate improvements in vehicle affordability may be limited.
“Since the decline in new vehicle sales began in August 2023, expectations are rising that the new vehicle market could see improvement for the remainder of the year due to favourable economic conditions and the comparison to last year’s lower base levels”.
Out of the country’s 10 best-selling brands, the top three remained unchanged, with Toyota’s 10 890 seeing it above Volkswagen’s 5 885 and Suzuki’s 5 023.
Helped in part by the Exter, Hyundai jumped a position to fourth on 2 841 at the expense of Ford’s 2 823.
While Isuzu kept its sixth place with sales of 1 960, Great Wall Motors (GWM) rose two positions to settle in seventh on 1 740.
In doing so, it leapfrogged arch-Chinese rival Chery, whose 1 614 saw it drop a single place to eighth.
Completing the top 10 were alliance partners Renault and Nissan with respective figures of 1 426 and 1 425.
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